These Strange Dark Times
by RedHawk09
Summary: Nightwing is transported to the Flashpoint Universe and meets a much dark and harsher Batman. Hoping to help this Batman, before he is sent back, along as put this man back on the right path.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Where Am I, Who Are You?

**AU: Hey guys Red here! I know you guys wanted more of The Lararous Effect, but when I heard they had done a movie out of Flashpoint I had this idea for a crossover with Young Justice. Also depending on how you guys respond to this first chapter I will include some romance moments between Nightwing and Zatanna. Anyway hope you guys enjoy this story. Also I wrote this chapter on an iPad so I'll apologize if this story does not flow as well as it could.**

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"Come on out BOY WONDER!" the joker snickered, "You can't hide in the dark forever! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The insane monster, that some how managed to pass for a human being, just kept on laughing. Dressed his usual attire of a purple suit and dress pants, along with his usual purple vest, orange dress shirt, and green tie. His laughter sent sub-zero chills down Dick's spine, it had since he was just nine years old. But he was no longer the child that dressed in flashy colors that only scared the henchmen, he was no longer Robin. He was his own man, with his own rules and own identity and reputation. He was Nightwing, the silent and mostly unseen protector of Bludahaven. Now that Joker had decided to challenge him by calling him his old title, he was eager to wipe that smile of his face.

From his perch point in the shadows of the warehouse that served as the base to Gotham's worst of criminals. Nightwing grinned, to say he was glad to get a chance to beat the crap out of the Joker, would be an understatement. But if he was going to do this, he was going to make sure that it would be memorable. He was thankful that Bruce had taught him ventriloquism back when he was Robin. He silently cleared his throat,'and thought to himself "Showtime."

"I've got to give you some credit Joker," Nightwing's voice echoed, "Out of all the villains that I have to face these days, you're probably the only one of them that recognizes me back from the old days. So I guess that underneath underneath all that crazy, you really do have a brain!" Joker's face went from one of humor, to a look of primal rage.

"Why you little punk!" He exclaimed, while turning in every direction trying to determine where Nightwing was hiding. He already had his signature knife and pistol out and ready, and he was more than ready to claim the life of the first boy wonder. However, he failed to notice the sound of Nightwing jump down from his perch point. Nightwing smiled as he positioned himself so that he was aimed for Joker, and readied himself for to deliver a powerful kick to the back of Joker's head. Once Noghtwing's kick meet contact with Joker's skull, the sickening sound of bone meeting custom boots could be heard throughout the almost empty room.

"You're a few years late to be calling me little," Nightwing cracked. The moments in which Joker fell face first to the hard unforgiving concert, were savored by Nightwing. He even savor the moments that he spent cleaning the knocked out maniac of weapons and chemicals, along with cuffing the son of a bitch.

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Five minutes later, Nightwing emerged from the warehouse dragging an unconscious Joker by the jacket. He was greeted by the sight of his other squad mates, Aqua Lad, Superboy, Miss Martian, and his girlfriend Zatanna Zatara. He gave a faint smile to Zatanna, and was returned a warm angelic one. He and Zatanna had been together now for about four years, and he could not have been happier. He would go to any lengthens to keep her safe.

They were about to send off the criminals, they had just caught, behind bars, but Nightwing noticed that one of the henchmen's eyes had turned red and a subtle red symbol that he did not recognize. But he did recognize that said henchman was being possessed by a sorcerer of chaos, he also noticed that his gaze was at Zatanna. The possessed man began to cast a spell in some strange language, almost instantly a weird beam shot towards Zatanna. Nightwing was moving faster than he knew he ever could, pushing Zatanna out of the line of fire and threw a wing-ding at the henchmen. However his new found speed could only go so far. He was hit by the strange beam, the gasps of everyone the could be heard. Instantly Nightwing started to fade away, until there was nothing.

"NIGHTWING!" Zatanna started to form in her eyes, and her hand reached out to where he once stood. She and everyone else were thinking the same thing, "What just happened?"

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Nightwing landed on something hard and unforgiving yet strangely familiar. His felt as if he had just awoken with the worst hangover in all of history. His eyes were closed but he could tell from the sound that he was in a city, which confused him. He thought that spell would have killed him or sent him to another dimension. He slowly rose to his feet, the weight of his feet shifting from side to side as he rose. He slowly became aware of the fact he was on a rooftop that had aegret view of city that looked like Vegas but had the ugly old corrupt feel of Gotham.

He stared at the high towering casinos that light up the night making it almost seem like a completely different world, than he was used to. He tried using his wrist computer's GPS, to find out where the hell he was, but when tried to activate his computer all he got was a holo-screen full of static. He was completely stumped he should have been able to access the Bat-Computer or the Leagues no matter where he was. Then he saw the most puzzling thing in the world. He saw a building that had, in huge neon lights, Wayne Casnio.

Now he knew that he was not in the right world. Because he remembered Bruce telling him that he would never in a million years open a Casnio, because it went against what the Wayne name stood for. So there was no way that he was in his home universe. "Where the hell am I," he plainly stated not expecting an answer, "Wait what's that?" Far off in the distance he could make out the familiar shape of a gaint bat. "Bruce." he thought hopefully. Then he saw gun fire coming from the giant bat, and instantly knew that this was not Bruce. So who was it?

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**Alright I hope you guys like this chapter if you guys like this story I'll continue it. So leave me some reviews. **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: What the Hell?

**AU: Hey guys I'm back, sort of. Well I gotta say I was amazed at how quickly you all responded to my last chapter, thought it would've taken a few days before anyone even looked at it. So thank you all. Just want to let you all know that I am working on this along with my chalant fics, so you can expect those to be updated soon. Also I will be using my own ideas for some of the villains for the Flashpoint Universe, also I may include a chalant moment in a future chapter, but I'll leave that up to you guys. Also random fun fact about the Flashpoint universe, Dick Grayson is actually the Doctor Fate of Flashpoint. Now depending on your guys feedback that may or may not play a role in this stories future.**

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Nightwing followed the mysterious new Bat, swing through the cool night air. Even though he knew that this wasn't his Gotham, it felt very similar. Hell, it even smelled the same, and from the blurred glimpses he got he could tell that the people were the same, so to speak. But he forced himself to not dwell on that, instead he tried to figure out who this universe's Batman was. Was it possible that it was just a alternate Bruce who had decided to cross the line, or was it someone else? Jason Todd, Tim Drake, or even worse him! Was it possible that in this universe that he was Batman and killing off criminals? He shook the idea out of his head deciding that he'd wait and see. He was able to follow the new Batman, it was not that hard, this Batman made a lot of noise, and was easy to spot. Nightwing also saw that this Batman was chasing after someone, dressed in skin tight costume that some what resembled a cat. "Selina?" Nightwing thought to himself.

Eventually Nightwing tailed them to another Wayne Casino and watched from the shadows as the two began to fight. He was shocked honestly when he saw Batman. Unlike the Batman he knew, this one had red eye lens's and bat-symbol in a red circle, and his cape was more sinister. He also could not help but notice that this Batman had a very dark five a'clock shadow. He also noted that this Batman's face carried more emotion than Bruce would allow to be shown. Which made Nightwing wonder if this was really Bruce or someone else.

"Tell me where the Joker is Catwoman!" the Batman demanded, aiming a pistol at the cat like criminal. Now Nightwing knew that this wasnt. Catwoman stepped into some better light, and revealing her better. She wore a black and purple skin tight cat suit, with ripped up legging and sleeves. She also had wild dark brown hair, and cat-like eyes, probably some special contact lenses. She wasn't Selina Kyle, that much Nightwing knew, she was way to young and the face was wrong.

Despite this, Nightwing felt that something was off. Over his year as a crime-fighter, he had developed a sixth sense that warned him of set-ups, and it was going off like a church bell. This Catwoman had something up her sleeve, or at least what was left of it.

"Sorry Bats," she replied with a sinful smirk, "But the Joker hired us to take care of you!" Nightwing grit his teeth and clenched his fist, he hated it when he was right. Because before Batman could utter a response, three other people leapt from the shadows attacking Batman. One of the attackers looked like Katana, except she had blades along her. arms and legs. Another looked like female Freeze, dress in black and blue amor, along with twin silver tanks on her back hooked up to a gun via a hose. The final attack was a young man, not much older than Robin, who had dyed blue spiky hair, neon blue shades, and red trench coat, a blue tank top, and black shinny jeans. Although he rolled out of the way, Batman still looked beat. Batman shot off rounds that never hit there mark, and kept avoiding the blows thrown at him. But Nightwing noticed that Batman's breath was becoming heavier and he was staring to sweat. Nightwing knew that this Batman would not be able to last long against these people. So he did decided to do the one thing he knew was great at, to go kick some ass.

The female Freeze had froze Batman's guns, and edging him closer to the edge of the roof, while wearing an evil grin. She did not let up the stream from her freeze ray. Then out of nowhere a Batarang cut the hose, causing the liquid to pour all over Mrs. Freeze, which in turn trapped her upper and lower body in ice. "Sorry folks," said an unfamiliar voice, "But I'm afraid one against four just isn't fair. Hope you don't mind if I even up the odds." And just then Nightwing landed beside Batman, in a ready stance. Nightwing could tell he was being watched by confused red eyes, and he could not care less. Whoever was in that costume, was a part of Bat-Family regardless of the fact he used guns.

"Kill him!" shouted Catwoman. And so the Katanna look alike charged at him with two long knives, Nightwing stood his ground unfazed. When she got close enough she swung the blades, but he dropped down to his hands, was able to keep him body off the ground with them, and then swept her feet out from out of her with a quick kick. Luckily for Nightwing's concuss, the blades flew into a nearby metal pipe, he was glad that he would not be responsible for someone death. He launched himself back up to his feet, standing ready for another round. Which was coming soon than he thought, cause that Katana look alike got back up to her feet like and brushed her costume off. She cracked her neck then cracked her knuckles, then gave Nightwing a murderous look.

Then the blue haired guy, came out of nowhere, and tried to land a jump kick on Nightwing's head. But Nightwing grabbed the guy's ankle with one hand, then slammed his free open-palmed hand onto the guy's chest, sending him crashing down to the hard surface of the roof. By the sound of guy, Nightwing could tell he had knocked the wind out him, and probably broke one of his ribs. During all this time, the Katana look-alike had snuck behind him, long blade raised over her head, and ready to deliver the finishing blow. But then a Batarang planted itself in her forearm, Nightwing then followed the source of the batarang, and saw that Batman had saved his life and was charging in to help him. Batman jumped over Nightwing and delivered a powerful kick to the Katana look alike. Despite that it only made her stagger backward. Then the two went into combat.

Nightwing almost failed to notice that Catwoman was about to pounce him. He rolled out of the way, and had his escrima sticks ready. He could tell that this Catwoman would not be much of a challenge and decided to toy with her. That is until she clawed his and drew blood. He caught her next punch, then used his free arm to punch the inside of her elbow. He followed up with a mean kick to the back of her knee, and finished with a knockout punch to soft spot of her left temple. He smirked as he admired his own handy work. He looked over towards Batman, and saw that this Batman had a much more brutal fighting style than he had ever seen in his life.

Batman had just broken the Katana look-alike's toes, and then broke one of her femurs, then quickly but powerfully punched her in the chest, probably causing a few of ribs to break no doubt. He then grab her by the throat and slammed her down to the ground. He then put a razor sharp batarang up to her throat. "Where is the Joker's FunHouse this time Shiv?" he demanded from her, "Talk while you still can!" Shiv was silent for a moment then she spat in Batman's face. He wiped his face clean, and then a murderous looked entered his red eyes. "Wrong answer!"

He then raised the batarang high in the air, Nightwing's eyes went wide. His body moved before he could come up with a plan, he threw his own batarang at Batman's hand. It hit it's mark, sending Batman's batarang flying from it's owners hand. Batman was then tackled by Nightwing sending them both off the roof. Nightwing also managed to inject Batman with a sleeping formula that Alfred had designed. Thankfully for Nightwing it did it's job fast. Nightwing shot a line and swung in the direction of the one place that he hoped that still existed.

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**The Batcave**

Carrying the still unconscious Batman, Nightwing entered the Cave through the waterfall. His jaw dropped, he was not shocked by what he saw, it was what he did not see. It was all gone, the car's, bikes, computers, the costumes, everything that gave the Batcave it's name was gone. The only thing he could see was the stone stair case, and a make shift operating room and case filled with bloody playing cards, nearby was a table with a gun in a case and a framed Wayne family photo.

While Nightwing was taking in these changes, he failed to noticed that Batman had awakened. He then slammed his fists into Nightwing's stomach. Rolled off of Nightwing's shoulder and continued to beat him. "Who are you?!" he demanded, "Why did you help me? And HOW THE HELL DID YOU KNOW WHERE MY CAVE WAS?!" Batman threw a powerful punch, which sent Nightiwng staggering backwards, but Nightwing managed to grab Batman's cowl causing it to come off. Finally the man behind the costume's face was brought forth by the dim light of the cave. At first he could not recognize the face. This Batman looked in his mid fifties, his eyes were aged with anger and hatred. His hair was gray. The man became more enraged and punched Nightwing even harder, sending him slamming into the table. Nightwing was dazed but then came to an amazing realization. As he looked at the Wayne family photo, and now he recognized this Batman, it was Thomas Wayne.

"Holy shit," Dick breathed, "It wasn't you and Martha who died in the alley that night, it was Bruce." Thomas's grim expression started to soften by the sound of his dead son's name. "What?" he asked in awe.

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**CLIFFHANGER!BLAH HAHAHAHAHA! Sorry about leaving you guys hanging but hey I got to keep you guys on your toes. Now leave me some reviews and comments. Alright later.**


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